AUTHOR=Casula Elias Paolo , Chieco Francesca , Papaioannou Magdalini Maria , Frizzarin Fabio , Rocchi Lorenzo , Camporese Arianna TITLE=Trend-analysis reveals real and placebo rtms effects on addiction craving: a case-control observational study JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2024 YEAR=2025 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1441815 DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1441815 ISSN=1664-0640 ABSTRACT=Background and aimsRepetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can be a potential therapeutic tool for the treatment of addiction, thanks to its ability to non-invasively modulate cortical excitability. In the present study, we investigated the short- and the long-term rTMS effects on craving behaviour and psychopathological symptoms in a sample of individuals suffering from gambling and cocaine use disorder.Methods42 individuals (age: 40.7 ± 9.5 years; 40 M) underwent an initial screening testing craving behaviour, by means of visual analogue scales, and psychopathological symptoms, by means of Symptom Checklist-90-R. Participants were subsequently assigned to a real or sham (placebo) rTMS treatment of 2 weeks delivered over the left dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex. To assess the short- and long-term effects of rTMS, participants were evaluated again after 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 weeks.ResultsAfter an initial similar trend in the craving behaviour of the two groups, our trend analysis showed a long-lasting decrease (until 24 weeks) in the real-rTMS group, following a linear trend (p<0.001); whereas the sham-rTMS group progressively returned to the initial level after about 12 weeks, following a quadratic trend (p<0.001). In addition, we observed moderate-to-strong correlations (0.4